He’s pretty well known on Instagram, and across several social media groups. We had a couple requests from customers to do an interview with Larrison aka @blkaut3 and his Mazdaspeed 3!
Luckily, he’s a friend of mine so I was excited to do a little write up on his car. I gave Larrison a questionnaire to answer about the modding process he took with his car.
Hope you guys enjoy the read, and seeing a bit of how this beautiful machine was put together!
Question 1: When did you buy your car?
“It all started in the summer of 2014. I bought it from Carmax, and had to have it shipped from Texas to Las Vegas. I ended up trading in my 2013 Mazda 3 for this. I used to have a slammed Mazda 626, after owning that, I knew I wanted something faster.”
Question 2: What took you down the Mod path you went with and why?
“With the 626, I was limited on how much I could modify, so I was excited to really do some things with this. I started doing minor mods here and there, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted my end result to be until my K04 Turbo blew. From there, I threw in a new turbo and all the supporting mods. I was ready for something more powerful! This is what really started everything.”
Question 3: What made you want to go with a track-inspired look?
“At first I just wanted something simple and clean. But then I saw Brian’s Car (The owner of BMSPEC) When he started producing his V1 wing risers, I knew I needed to jump on it. I put on the wing and splitter, and after that, it was clear this was the path I wanted to go with the car. After a bit, Brian and I established somewhat of a partnership. Promoting his products is what really made my car look like it does today. There is more to come, as I am always working on it.”
Question 4: What do you enjoy most about owning this Mazdaspeed?
“My favorite part would have to be owning something that is one of a kind. Something that has my own personal touches that make it mine. There isn’t another car that’s exactly like it, which is what makes it so fun. Getting to work on something that reflects my personality and style is what it’s all about.”
It was awesome of Larrison to share with us a bit of history on his Mazdaspeed 3. We look forward to seeing his progress continue!
Recently, we’ve been posting a lot of blogs on clubs and connection in the community, and I’m sure you’re wondering what that’s all about. We’re hoping to help people get connected in their local areas and start throwing more meets!
What way to better understand how to get a HUGE group of MAZDA ENTHUSIASTS together than ask a Mazda Meet Organizer?
Keith Eggert has been an influential event planner for a lot of West Coast Mazda clubs. Below, he walks us through how it was for him setting up the first couple Mazda Takeover events. We hope it inspires you to start the process of creating your own!
KEITH:
Let me start off by saying that I am by no means a professional at getting a large gathering of people together, nor am I very organized. However, I love the Mazda community and enjoy connecting with fellow Mazda enthusiasts.
A unique opportunity was laid out before me: Get as many people with Mazdaspeeds together here in my area. (For those of you who don’t know where I’m from, I currently reside in the greater Boise, Idaho area.)
Dale Owen, head honcho of the Mazdaspeed Idaho group on Facebook, who also runs Gem Tuning (yes, he tuned my car), approached me with a yearly meet idea.
He explained how it’d be a huge help if I lent a hand in helping organize our yearly Mazdaspeed group meet, since I live in the epicenter of the majority of the Idaho members. Of course I said “Yes”, and just minutes after I told him yes, I had an idea: “Let’s do it big!”, I said to Dale:
“Let’s make this thing huge, not just a simple one-day hangout, let’s put this party on the map!”
He reluctantly agreed to that, and since that day over two years ago, I took the reins and ran with it. I figured I had to give it a name, but more importantly, I had to figure out what we were going to do for two whole days. It had to be exciting, it had to fill empty time, it had to connect Mazda Groups from all surrounding areas. Most importantly, it needed to be fun. I decided to call it the Mazda Takeover because that’s how I envisioned it; Mazda after Mazda after Mazda, driving down the road to locations in the valley where events were set up. It was a beautiful thing to see.
I invited anyone in the Mazda Community willing to make the drive from as far as Utah to come up. I invested about three months into getting known, talking to people, and helping members with their questions on the Utah Mazda Enthusiasts Facebook group. It paid off. As luck would have it Cody Allington is kind of the go-to guy down in Utah, and with his help he generated interest, and brought up 7 cars with him in the first year, which blew me away given that the planning span of 3 months was all the time I gave him to gather a group willing to drive up.
Friday through Sunday. That was the game plan, come to find out, clearly waaaay too short of a time frame.
Between the Friday evening’s Line the Streets meet, Saturday mornings dyno day, Saturday nights drag racing, and Sunday’s farewell, I think everyone managed to get about 3 hours of sleep each night. That needed to change. We absolutely needed an extra day; that way people wouldn’t feel burned out, and would have time to relax and just talk to people. So, for Year Two, we did just that.
Mazda Takeover’s second year was much more organized, spanning from Thursday night through Sunday.
Three days to dyno, race, and have a scenic cruise. It was perfect, and even had people making the trip in the late evening on Saturday just to make two passes down the drag strip before the lights went out and everyone went home. We now have a perfect amount of days, but there was still quite a bit of downtime that we attempted to fill with a garage day, which was way too stressful given that it was hours before we all left to go drag racing. That won’t be happening in Year Three.
So what did I learn in all of this?
Two successful years, triple the amount of attendance from people outside of Idaho, states I never contacted via Social Media wondering about the event and contacting me directly… I think I have a recipe to keep this thing going.
Here is just a little bit of wisdom should you find yourself wanting to have a huge meet.
First things first: PLAN PLAN PLAN.Do not fill a day with too much. Two events per day spaced out is perfect. Dyno in the morning from 9-2, then have everyone meet for a BBQ from 4-7. However, you wish to fill the day, keep in mind: the key to a successful meet is to utilize the reason you are there. If you get Mazda people together, do Mazda stuff. Go for a cruise, schedule time for how long that drive will take, and any pit stops needed for photo shoots, fuel, etc.
Second. When doing two events during a meet, NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO TWO CAR RELATED EVENTS IN THE SAME DAY. Meaning, don’t schedule a dyno day and an evening of drag racing in the same day. Can you? Sure you can. Should you? Probably not. Cars are like people, too much stress and they break. Don’t need to go breaking any cars; this is supposed to be fun. And if you do, know your groups of attendees. Scheduling an Autocross event and a drag event on the same day is far more acceptable, since autocross drivers are less susceptible to drag racing, and a drag car sure as hell won’t ever see an autocross course.
Third. Keep in mind, you are doing this for a group so that everyone can have fun, yourself included. Call ahead, give businesses a heads up that a group is coming on a certain day, that way it alleviates stress on the business and on you as the administrator. The less stress, the more fun everyone has.
With those three key ingredients, you can build the foundation for a successful meet.
Keep in mind, if you are planning on doing a multi-day meet, the more notice the better. Also, keep in mind that not everyone can make it, even with six months of notice. Life happens fast, and things change quickly.
I think the biggest thing I learned is to not fear failure.
The first year of the Mazda Takeover, THE DAY OF the start of the meet, I had doubt, fear that no one would show, a sinking feeling that three months of phone calls and planning was all for nothing. Push that aside, people will come. Hype up your meet, make it sound like the best weekend people near you with a Mazda could ever have. I did just that for two years worth of events. Last year Corksport sent Luke McCarvel and Barett Strecker to the event. This year I got Luke and Barett, and Brett White got the chance to join them.
Evolutionary Performance out of Salt Lake even shut it’s doors for the weekend to relax and have a good time.
So that just goes to show: If you never settle for OK, and constantly push to have bigger and better meets, performance shops will come to your meet, retailers can come to your meets, tuners can come to your meets, but most importantly, people will have a good time.
Lastly, a shameless plug for the Mazda Takeover 2018. – June 7th-11th in Boise, Idaho.
Dyno, Drag, Karting, BBQ, Scenic Cruise. Whether you drive a Mazdaspeed, Miata, Protege, or just regular Mazda that you’re proud of, you won’t want to miss this year’s event. We hope to see you there. Camping is encouraged!!!
If you’re looking for an excuse to connect with your local Nator Club, Mazdaspeed Group, or Mazda community, Keith has shown you how to stick with it and come up with a great event. However, if you don’t want to plan your own, stay tuned as we’ll be working with clubs all over the US to promote events and meetups throughout 2018.
If you’re a club and you have an event page, email ki*@co*******.com so we can be sure to get you on the calendar!
Guest Blog – Mazda Takeover Event September 13th, 2018CorkSport
Ever wondered how to connect with your local Mazda crews and clubs?
Or have you ever gotten connected and then lost your ride somehow? For some of us it’s a crash, others of us sell our beloved Mazda and aim at our next dream car, or heck, even the necessary minivan.
What happens then? Not only did you lose your favorite car, but seemingly you lost out on the community as well.Does it make sense to show up to your favorite meets if you no longer drive the “proper” vehicle?
When it comes to the Nator groups, the love is still there regardless of what your next ride.
According to Micha Fullen, this is exactly how it goes; and it’s about so much more than the cars themselves:
“While at the annual Midwest meet this year in St Louis Missouri, washing my hair in the shower I had a thought, “Micha, why do you still come to this event when you don’t even own a Mazdaspeed anymore?”
I told myself, that being a Mazdaspeed owner past, present or future, is like being in a family. Especially when you involve yourself in the community and clubs that are offered throughout the country. Me, I’m a Nator Guy.
Year after year, we collectively travel thousands of miles to attend an event centered around vehicles that some of us don’t even own anymore. It’s crazy huh? Do the same thing, show up without owning the ‘correct’ Model Vehicle, at a VW or Honda meet and you get blacklisted and shunned.
Mazdaspeed owners don’t kick you out, or tell you that you shouldn’t be there. We just call each other; funny, and sometimes very rude, names. Then ask to race your new vehicle on a track, dragstrip or parking lot. (More recently it’s been even helpful to all of them that I bought a truck… because we all know with spirited driving, and some showing off, something is bound to go wrong)
I am closer to my Mazdaspeed family than I am to my own. This has been true since I bought my Speed 3 Jun of 2011. I had some problems with my car(s) and my Mazdaspeed (Nator) family came to my aid. But when that same family had problems of their own, I drove many miles or sometimes across multiple states to help them.
Corksport goes out of their way to attend these events. Not so much pushing parts, but to welcome family with open arms and stay connected to the grass roots of our community.
I met Barrett this year and even having never talked to him, he was the top 3 nicest dudes I have ever met. He got involved and talked shop with the majority of everyone in attendance. Kim is also a major voice in the community, listening to what the people want and bouncing ideas off of people to find how CorkSport can continuously push and evolve in this platform. She shows up to multiple events a year, stays in contact even throughout the winter and is always helping her “brothers and sisters” with their own endeavors, even if it doesn’t involve Corksport.
This year, if you were at the Midwest meet, you would see that a good majority of people have moved on to new platforms, specifically the new ecoboost options from Ford being very popular. Adrienne K with her Focus RS, Matt D with his FoST and Ryan P with his brand new FiST, and myself, I went way to the left with the new Raptor (Hey it has 2 turbos mmmmmkay).
It doesn’t matter what happens in your life, or even if you have moved on, we all got our start with Mazdaspeeds and we always stick with Family.”
As you see, being a Mazda owner is about the community, the family, the connection to other Mazdaspeed Enthusiasts.
And being an enthusiast isn’t always defined by the fact you still own a Mazda. It’s defined by being a car family. There may be groups that require you to own a Mazda to show up, but when it comes to Nator, once a Mazdaspeed Nator Family member, always one.
If you’re curious about where to connect, who to reach out to, or how to get in touch with your local Mazda club, check out the list below.
While we would love for this list to be exhaustive, it’s not, so if you’re currently involved in a club not listed, please let us know and we’ll be sure to make it easier for other CorkSport followers to connect with your group!
Can you believe we started this project back in 2012?
Yes, it’s been a long journey, and a few too many “two weeks”, only to find that more improvements were needed. We’ll be frank, this has been a challenging project to tackle, but we have prevailed. We have pushed past the challenges faced in manufacturing the complex design, and are proud to announce that we are ready to present you with the most complete solution for the Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed 6 platform. Introducing the Mazdaspeed Intake Manifold!
The CorkSport Intake Manifold is here for those of us who want some more flow in our lives.
Our design focuses on performance without sacrificing OEM fitment or drivability. With equal flowing runners, higher flow than OE, and TMIC fitment, it truly is a complete solution to the OE intake manifold.
Fitment is huge when it comes down to large engine components like intake manifolds. While designing the CorkSport IM, we wanted to retain as many OE features and mounting locations as possible while maintaining neat and tidy packaging. By doing so, we were able to keep components such as the TMIC, OEM throttle body, MAP Sensor, and even the oil dipstick bracket in OE locations. This all means a relatively quick and easy part to install, but we made it even easier by clearing some space around hard-to-reach areas.
The CorkSport Intake Manifold may fit like OE, but that’s where the similarities end.
The CorkSport Mazdaspeed Intake Manifold is designed with performance and drive-ability in mind, with the larger plenum design and long cylinder runners. Since the intake plenum is about three times larger than OE, there is an increase in high RPM power capacity without sacrificing throttle response and drivability. By maintaining the length of the cylinder runners (vs the typical aftermarket intake manifold), we improved mid-range power while still having peak RPM capacity with the single runner design vs. an OE split runner design.
The increase in performance also comes with an increase in engine health.
By optimizing the design for equal flow between runners, the CorkSport IM eliminates the flow imbalance of the OE intake manifold. This significant imbalance causes cylinders to run excessively lean or rich, affecting engine durability and performance. Check out the graph below to see the difference. Not only does the CorkSport Intake Manifold outflow the OE design by 70CFM per runner on average but also significantly reduces the flow imbalance to 2% or less vs the OE imbalance of 21%.
This means your engine can run stronger, longer, and have a higher potential to make power.
But enough talk about numbers and flow, let’s SEE some numbers. The dyno graph below shows the difference before and after the CS IM on a Mazdaspeed3 with a CorkSport TD05H-18G turbo equipped. Not only was there an increase in power and torque across the entire RPM range, but the turbo also spooled around 100RPM faster than with the OE intake manifold.
But wait there’s more! Along with the overall design improvement over OE; there are additional design features that you need to know about.
Firstly, we increased the size of the throttle body opening. This allows the OE throttle body to work great but also allows for a larger throttle body to be installed without modification.
Next, there are added fueling ports for each runner. They are standard 1/8-27 NPT ports that can be used with methanol nozzles or other fueling options.
Finally, there is an extra 1/8-27 NPT port that can be used for boost controllers, gauges, or the like.
Now you may be thinking, But there aren’t any larger throttle bodies available. To that, we say, not just YET!
Along with the great features of this new Performance Intake Manifold, we are also providing nearly all of the hardware you need for installation; that is, the brass fittings that come pre-installed on the intake manifold and the additional hardware and hoses needed for auxiliary components.
Now we would like to circle back to where we started with this conversation:
We here at CorkSport pride ourselves on doing everything in our power to provide you, our customers, with the best possible products out there. We also are committed to being real with you guys as well, because we too are Mazda-lovers who get a thrill out of overcoming the toughest challenges that stand between us and the ultimate car experience.
The most challenging aspect of this project has been getting the manufacturing to an acceptable quality, and consistent among each intake manifold. We have tested the intake manifold on multiple cars in-house and with various beta testers, the results speak for themselves: this is an exceptional performance product that your Mazdaspeed will love to have.
Believe us when we say that this design is tough to manufacture, and that process results in no two parts being exactly the same visually; but it also means that each manifold has its own unique look and character, the same way our cars do.
We guarantee that the CorkSport Intake Manifold will give you the best performance out there, but if for whatever reason you’re not satisfied with the unique look of your IM, please contact us and we’ll be more than happy to take care of you like we always do. – We’ve got your back!
That being said, if you’re looking to take your Mazdaspeed to the next level in both speed and reliability, the CorkSport Mazdaspeed Intake Manifold is the best comprehensive solution on the market.
These babies are only available while supplies last, so don’t wait, they’ll be gone before you know it!
Did you know there are LOTS of Car Guys and Gals out there in the Mazdaspeed world?
From Nator Clubs and Mazda Nova Clubs to Mazdaspeed and Meet Up Clubs, the branding is slightly different for each area and each group, but the heart and soul of the people who get involved stays the same.
Great people, big appetites (for speed and food), awesome tastes in beers and booze, and a genuine care for their fellow club members. I have made sure to attend meets and get to know the nitty gritty center of our Mazda Community, mostly because who doesn’t want to do Car stuff with their Car friends. However, I also do it because it’s an integral part of CorkSport’s vision, to give unprecedented levels of customer support and connection to the Mazda Community.
We ultimately just want to LOVE OUR CUSTOMERS, and I’ll take one for the team and meet you Guys and Gals face to face.
We’ve been to the MidWest Nator meet, the East Coast Nator Meet, and the Boise Mazda Take-over event this past year. We have also hosted our CorkSport Dyno day and given the west coast Mazda community a place to gather as well! Let me just say, it’s been amazing getting to know everyone, and seeing some awesome familiar faces.
The one thing that really stands out for me is the sense of community that is built at the center of all of this. I’ll admit I’m a people person, so of course YOU are my favorite part of working for CorkSport, however, it’s a community like no other, regardless of the title it goes by. The values of the Mazda community stay fairly similar, with mods, install days, track days, meet ups, and expansion of the love we all share for the Mazda Platform.
A group of awesome individuals, getting together, teaching those who don’t know how, and taking are of those who do (and still break down).
There are Groups all over the US (and I’m sure international), that we don’t even know about. It’s my hope that when you read this, you pass me your group pages, club names, social addresses, etc., so that CorkSport can help others in your area connect!
Near and Far, no matter where you are, let CorkSport hear from you!
Until next time, stay safe, stay fast, stay happy my friends!
-Kim @ CorkSport
Dear Car Clubs: We Want To Hear From You! September 13th, 2018CorkSport
